In
an effort to extend its global reach and to provide enhanced opportunities for
students to expand their world competitiveness, Gannon University signed
agreements with two exceptional institutions in the European Union.

Through
agreements with Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland, and the University
of Osnabrück in Germany, Gannon University and its European partner
institutions will exchange students through study abroad programs, and will
explore opportunities for exchanges of faculty and staff, as well as research
and professional collaborations.

These
agreements solidify a European presence for Gannon, which has already established
relationships in the Middle East (Jordan), Southeast Asia (Thailand) and
Australia.

The
agreements with the European institutions are among the three to have been
executed in the last six months. Last
October, Gannon signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with American
University of Madaba (AUM), located in Madaba, Jordan. AUM is the first non-profit
university in Jordan and the first Catholic, American University in the
region. During Dr. Taylor’s European
trip, where he was accompanied by Janice Whiteman, assistant professor and
interim director of Gannon’s School of Education, promising talks were also
held with universities in Rome and Milan.

On
signing the agreement with Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Keith Taylor, Ph.D.
Gannon’s president, said, “It was such a pleasure to visit Mary Immaculate
College on behalf of Gannon University. There is great promise and synergy between
our two institutions making this partnership an obvious match. We look forward
to a visit by the staff and students of MIC to our own urban campus this spring
to see the growth and evolution that parallels in many ways that of MIC.”

Both
stewards of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Gannon and Mary Immaculate
College have much in common. Gannon was
founded by Erie Archbishop John Mark Gannon, the son of Irish immigrants.Founded in 1898, by the Sisters of
Mercy and the Bishop of Limerick, Edmund T. O’Dwyer, MIC is the oldest
institution of higher education in Limerick. With enrollment in excess of 3,000
students, MIC is recognized as a leader in teacher education for the country.

Commenting
on the partnership with Gannon, Prof. Michael A. Hayes, president of MIC, said,
“The Memorandum of Understanding we have signed with Gannon University is part
of our growing international development and will offer further wonderful
opportunities for both our students and staff to have international educational
experiences. It will also provide Mary Immaculate College with an additional
platform for international collaboration on research projects in the areas of
education, early childhood care and education and the liberal arts.”

The
University of Osnabrück in the German state of Lower Saxony was founded in
1973, and has an enrollment of more than 10,000 students in 10 different
Schools. A similar Memorandum of
Understanding was signed opening great opportunities for summer programs across
many disciplines, particularly in the area of cognitive sciences.

These
are critical and substantial next steps to enhance Gannon’s leadership in
international education and commitment to developing socially responsible world
citizens.